1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to cleansing bars containing discrete elements. The cleansing bars have excellent lathering and cleansing properties, are useful to exfoliate skin, and have improved grippability versus conventional cleansing bars.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional cleansing bars have several problems associated with them. One problem associated with cleansing bars is that they are very slippery when wet. The bars tend to slip out of the hand of the consumer during use in the shower or bath. The consumer then has to bend over or kneel down to pick up the cleansing bar from the floor of the shower.
Another problem associated with cleansing bars is that they tend not to form a lot of lather. The lather that is generated typically is slow to develop and not that abundant. Since many consumers relate lather to effectiveness of cleansing, the use of conventional cleansing bars can be viewed as providing less than optimum body cleansing.
Skin cleansing compositions having abrasive particles incorporated as scrubbing aids are known in the art. For example, LOOFAH Exfoliating Soap is a commercially available soap bar available through Earth Therapeutics. The soap bar has small particles of a chopped up loofah or puff dispersed throughout.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,870 discloses skin cleansing compositions comprising water-insoluble glass bubbles. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,910,476 discloses abrasive containing soap bars. Suitable abrasives include pumice, talc, and/or sand.
These abrasive containing cleansing compositions generally suffer from the disadvantage of having an unpleasant abrasive and/or sandy feel and may cause irritation with prolonged scrubbing.
Personal cleansing compositions containing water-insoluble micronized particles are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,245. The micronized particles have a defined particle size and are not tactilely perceived by the user.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,506 discloses a sponge core in a soap bar, i.e., a xe2x80x9cstructured soap bar.xe2x80x9d The preferred structural support is a natural synthetic open-celled sponge material.
Despite the disclosure of the prior art, there is a continuing need for a cleansing bar that has good grippability, is capable of exfoliating the skin without abrasive feel and provides a significant amount of lather in a relatively short period of time. The present invention answers this need.
It has been discovered that cleansing bar compositions having good grippability and exfoliating properties which are capable of providing a significant amount of lather in a relatively short period of time can be obtained by incorporating a plurality of discrete elements having a length to diameter ratio of from about 50 to 1 to about 100,000 to 1.Accordingly, the present invention relates to a cleansing bar comprising: a) a cleansing composition; and b) a plurality of discrete elements having a length to diameter ratio of from about 50 to 1 to about 100,000 to 1.
The invention also relates to a method for cleaning a surface comprising wetting the above described cleansing bar with water; applying agitation to the wet cleansing bar, wherein the amount of water and agitation are sufficient to create a lather on the cleansing bar, and applying said lathering cleansing bar to the surface to be cleaned.